Protecting Your Ears at Concerts and Music Festivals

Many people in America and the world attend concerts and music festivals. And why not? You could be doing your health a huge favor by gracing these occasions. For example, you can reduce your stress, improve your mood and connect with people who love music as much as you. However, these concerts and music festivals are extremely loud, and every aspect of you may benefit from this apart from your ears.

But you may be wondering if you should stop attending them to protect your hearing. The answer is no! You don’t have to give up what you love. Read on to learn how to maintain your auditory capabilities at concerts and music festivals.

What Hearing Loss Is Like

Your cochlea is an organ instrumental for detecting and processing sounds, so you can hear everything around you. This organ consists of membranes and hair cells that enable your brain to detect the slightest sounds. However, they aren’t keen on extremely loud sounds for practical reasons.

This is because these noises can damage the membranes and cells in your cochlea and cause the hair cells to overwork. This damage is usually irreversible and leads to hearing loss. Talk with your audiologist if you think you are experiencing hearing loss.

How Concerts and Music Festivals Cause Hearing Loss

The normal threshold is 85 decibels; any sound above this can be damaging. But surprisingly, the sounds from outside music festivals and concerts can reach 90 to 100 decibels. It can even be more if the event occurs in a concert hall or festival tent. Now, staying in this noisy environment may not cause instant damage.

It’s also important to note that sound intensity doubles after every three decibels; you can remain at a concert for half the time for every three-decibel increase. In other words, you can damage your ears in under five minutes if the sound is at a threshold of 100 decibels. Your ears will inform you of damages with various signs, and going to the audiologist afterward will be beneficial. Signs to look out for:

• • A persistent ringing, buzzing or chirping noise.
  • Over-sensitivity to certain sounds.

Distorted sounds.

• Hearing different sounds in both years simultaneously.

How to Enjoy Your Music Festivals and Concerts Without Hurting Your Hearing

You can still enjoy these activities once you have ear protection and practice safety measures. Earplugs will be your allies, so feel free to invest in the right options. Some brands have acoustic features that keep the noise low but allow you to enjoy the songs and conversations around you. If you’re taking kids along, ensure they have the earplugs best suited to their ages.

You don’t have to be so close to the speakers to get the full experience. In fact, staying away from them will be a good idea. You can let your ear rest occasionally by stepping out of the concert area; consider visiting the food stalls and taking a walk.

Talk with your audiologist about earplugs or earmuffs, before you go to your next concert! They will be able to tell you which will be the best for you.